“What’s Cooking” has a special meaning to me and quite a few women all over the country. To us, it is the cooking forum we gather on everyday to talk about daily life, food, cooking, baking and all things food related. The forum helped form some special bonds with food enthusiasts and as a result of our growing friendships, we decided to come together for a weekend of food, fun and friendship here in Chicago. We had women representing Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, California and of course, Chicago attend throughout the weekend.
As a resident of Chicago, I offered to host our first What’s Cooking National Get Together Weekend here in the lovely city of Chicago. With so much food history and food culture, Chicago served as a perfect place to indulge on some good eats.
Tonight was the first night of our weekend together. To welcome them to Chicago, I hosted a “Celebrate Chicago!” dinner that included foods that were special to Chicago and Chicago history. Here are some pics from our dinner together:
Strawberry Spinach Salad w/cinnamon dressing
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Chicago Style Hot Dogs & Maxwell Street Polishes
& Condiments:
spicy brown mustard, chopped onion, yellow mustard,
green relish, sport peppers, sliced tomatoes,
sliced cucumbers, caramelized onions, celery salt
Papa Charlie’s Italian Beef w/Turano bread rolls
Jay’s Chips – a Chicago original!
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Chicago Style Hot Dogs & Maxwell Street Polishes
& Condiments:
spicy brown mustard, chopped onion, yellow mustard, green relish, sport peppers, sliced tomatoes,
sliced cucumbers, caramelized onions, celery salt
Papa Charlie’s Italian Beef w/Turano bread rolls
Jay’s Chips – a Chicago original!
Wheat Beer Bread w/Bacon Garlic Dip
Crudite Platter w/Garlic Onion Dip
Crudite Platter w/Garlic Onion Dip
Affy Tapples Caramel Apples
Eli’s Cheesecake – cherry & plain
Table Shots:
Lee (MrsNukem) – Houston
& Shanna (LadyMcbth) – Pittsburgh
Linda (Lindad) & her DH – St. Louis
Jen (bride7/15/05) & Wayne – new to Chicago from Ohio
Nickie (Mrs.Liberto) – new to Chicago from California
Where there is food, we will follow…
Lee & Shanna
(L-R) Linda, Stephanie (beebe from Michigan behind the flowers),
Nickie, Jen, Wayne, Shanna)
(L-R) Stephanie, Lee, Shanna, Linda, Linda’s DH
watching the games to appease the husbands
(L-R) Linda, Wayne, Jen , Shanna, Lee,
Dale, Steph (behind Dale), Nickie
(L-R) Jen, Wayne, Dale, Stephanie, Nickie
& Shanna (LadyMcbth) – Pittsburgh
Linda (Lindad) & her DH – St. Louis
Jen (bride7/15/05) & Wayne – new to Chicago from Ohio
Nickie (Mrs.Liberto) – new to Chicago from California
Where there is food, we will follow…
Lee & Shanna
(L-R) Linda, Stephanie (beebe from Michigan behind the flowers),
Nickie, Jen, Wayne, Shanna)
(L-R) Stephanie, Lee, Shanna, Linda, Linda’s DH
watching the games to appease the husbands
(L-R) Linda, Wayne, Jen , Shanna, Lee,
Dale, Steph (behind Dale), Nickie
(L-R) Jen, Wayne, Dale, Stephanie, Nickie
Looks like you all had the best time!! Thanks for sharing the picks.
oops, that should have said “pics”
Joelen
Great looking table!
Thanks for including Eli’s Cheesecake in your Chicago Culinary Celebration.
Come visit us at Eli’s Cheesecake World.
Best wishes,
Marc Schulman
Eli’s President